Union critical of trailer guidelines

Published 6:30 am, Thursday, December 7, 2006

An oil industry trade group, under pressure from federal accident investigators, released a proposed new guideline on placing temporary trailers on plant grounds.

But union officials blasted the proposal, saying it falls far short of protecting workers.

"This is what happens when the fox watches the henhouse," said Gary Beevers, international vice president of the oil sector for the United Steelworkers.

The American Petroleum Institute issued a draft recommendation stating that refinery operators should conduct risk assessment and other analyses when determining where to place trailers on plant grounds, then use their own judgment to make those decisions.

The safety board's action came in the midst of its investigation of the March 2005 explosion of BP's Texas City refinery. Fifteen people were killed in that blast, all of them while working in or near trailers parked near the unit that exploded.

Most of those who died were working in a double-wide trailer located 121 feet away.

The safety board did not recommend new safe distances, but noted its investigation revealed trailers parked 600 feet away were damaged.

Beevers and other union officials said they were hoping API would come out with specific safe distances, as well as a more detailed methodology for determining those distances.

"We have got to have a uniform standard that everyone can live by, otherwise we will continue to kill people," he said.

API spokeswoman Karen Matusic noted that the recommendation is just a draft and any interested party can comment before the proposal is finalized next year.